Last week I saw a fox chilling between a Mini Cooper and a Prius at the edge of a park near my parent’s home. Paco and I stopped in our tracks, watching from across the street as the kit casually flicked its tail. I smiled: us three, wild creatures, each finding our way through this urban environment.
Two weeks ago, I signed my commitment to the University of Iowa’s MFA program, where I’ll specialize in Spanish Literary Translation!
After much anguish, it’s wild to feel this dream coming through—I’m so ready, so excited to be a full-time student. They’ve offered me a full ride and I have a paid TA position waiting for me in the Rhetoric Department. As a literary translation student, I’ll be taking classes across many departments—world languages, creative writing, philosophy—and I cannot wait to meet my classmates / workshop / learn with them! Paul Aster once described translators as “the often forgotten instruments that make it possible for different cultures to talk to one another, who have enabled us to understand that we all, from every part of the world, live in one world.”
My summer now looks like reading, resting, preparing myself for this new adventure, supporting war-resistance and protest efforts. We’re going to Iowa City, baby!
p.s. Thank you all for the love after I shared my toxic relationship last month. Healing is never linear, and my support network continues to leave me feeling blessed ✨ We’re doing this! We’re living!
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad is EASILY one of the best books I’ve ever read. It just won the 2024 Aspen Words Literary Prize. “In elegant, nuanced prose, Isabella Hammad tells the story of Sonia Nasir, a stage actress living in London who returns to her homeland of Palestine to visit her sister, Haneen, after many years away, and finds herself roped into a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Exploring themes of diaspora, displacement and the search for identity, Hammad constructs a world rich in texture and emotion. A poignant narrative of resilience and the quest for belonging, Enter Ghost is a dazzling story of self-discovery against the backdrop of displacement.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jhumpa Lahiri’s Italian Book of Short Stories. What a treasure to see on the coffe table when I arrived at my parent’s home: my dad had picked it up at the library, and I’ve read through some with him. Alba de Céspedes’ story thus far is a favorite.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. A young woman tries to avoid the world with an extended hibernation—literally trying to sleep off her depression. Thanks to “one of the worst psychiatrists in the annals of literature,” and the battery of medicines she prescribes, our protagonist does just that. Funny in many parts, but not my favorite book.
How To Think Like A Woman: Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Love the Life of the Mind by Regan Penaluna. Poignant (at times wise) reflections on what philosophy and modern life could look like if women were treated equally, if the “female way of thinking” was treated equally.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Another moving and beautifully rendered family story—this one set in Alaska in the 1970s.
adrienne marie brown’s recent essay: “This Is a Politicizing Moment. Let’s Spread Our Wings and Lift Up Palestine. The wisdom of birds in flight can inspire our collective movement to flock together for Palestine’s liberation.”
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO
Fave new Maggie Rogers song: “Drunk”
Fave new Taylor Swift song: “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”
For a dose of self-empowerment: “Fire” by Avery Sunshine
This playlist of songs 100% written, produced and performed by women
I thoroughly (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) enjoyed listening to the audiobook performance of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and The Six. Now I want to watch the TV show!
WHAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING
(⭐️/5)
El pacto de silencio. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Mexican Netflix series that gets better with each episode! The story revolves around an abandoned girl who grows up to seek revenge on the four now-adult women who were seen, as teenagers years ago, abandoning a baby outside their prep school. Which of these four now wealthy and powerful women is her mother? How far will everyone go to protect their secrets? Dramatic like a good telenovela!
The protests happening on university campuses, which have historically indicated a necessary and overdue course of action. In this case: doing absolutely everything to stop the war atrocities happening in the Middle East.
WHAT I’VE BEEN EATING
My cousin Sam treated me to Franklin’s Barbecue in Austin, TX, a famous eatery for which we waited three hours and it was WORTH it. Best BBQ of my life. Hands down. Potato salad and baked beans included. Midday well spent.
Dad made savory waffles, adding veggies, brie, salami, and other goodies to the batter, pressing them with a waffle press my parents were given when they got married 30 years ago 🥹
All of my mother’s incredible cooking! I am so blessed!
WHAT I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT
IOWA CITY, BABY! Have you been? Where should I live? What fun things should I do?
Something my dad said to me last night: The path you are on wasn’t set for you, therefore there is no wrong way.
WHAT I’VE BEEN LEARNING
How to spring-clean my computer // delete Apps from my computer. Did you know you can do this? And that it’ll make your computer run faster? (Maybe everyone but me knew this?!) Last week I deleted more than a dozen apps (e.g. Keynote, Garage Band, etc.) that were either pre-installed or I no longer use… and my computer has been faster / working much better since!
How to befriend my mortality, thanks to
’s recent poem/post:
WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO
Sports! I feel such joy in playing team sports again. I’ve joined my dad’s church softball league, and my high-school teammates’ rec soccer team.
Being as car-less as possible. My goal is to drive as little as I can—biking, taking public transportation, and walking on my own two lil feet brings me such joy.
Let me know if you’ll be in the DC area in the next three months!
xx Emma
What’s been tickling your senses this month? Leave a comment or hit the reply button!